Satirical play of the Calais Jungle comes to Gosforth to Raise Funds for Refugees

24th October 2017

On Saturday 28 October Borderline, a comedy about the humanitarian crisis
in Calais with a cast that includes refugee performers, comes to Gosforth Civic Theatre where your ticket price is a donation to local refugee charities.

Borderline has won critical acclaim for depicting the human adventure of bringing
diverse communities together in such a unique and funny way, and its hoped that it
will help improve public perception of integration issues and refugees when the
debate can often be dominated by negative narratives.

Part of Platforma Festival 2017, Borderline was devised by Sophie Besse and brings
together an ensemble cast of European and refugee performers from seven different
nationalities including UK, France, Syria, Afghanistan, Chile and Sudan. Such has been
the spotlight on Calais and perceived reputation of the inhabitants of the ‘Jungle’
that Borderline is a reminder of the beauty, resourcefulness, and creativity of the
people who live there despite having lived through traumatic events.

With such a rich and important story, Gosforth Civic Theatre, a charity themselves,
wanted to set the stage to make a real difference. Tickets are free; instead people
will be asked to make a donation of a sleeping bag, clothes or a cash donation of
£10 that will be given to local refugee charity Refugee Biryani and Bananas. There will
also be a Q&A after the show with writer Sophie Besse, cast members and
representatives from Biryani and Bananas, giving the audience the chance to discuss
and learn about such an important humanitarian issue.